Sensory evaluation of sherry wine vinegar

Sherry wine vinegar is a highly appreciated product due to its sensory properties which are acquired thanks to its aging in wood. Despite its relevance, studies involving aging of vinegars are scarce. In this paper, sensorial characteristics of Sherry wine vinegar had been studied during aging. Samples were obtained by acetifying Sherry wine in the laboratory and aging them in oak wood casks for two years. By means of triangle tests, significative differences have been found among vinegars aged 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. In order to obtain more information descriptive analysis was performed. Sherry wine vinegars were described on the basis of the attributes previously selected and from these results their spider charts were drawn. The remaining alcoholic degree of vinegars plays an important role in the ethyl acetate and woody aroma components. Overall impression, aroma intensity and quality clearly increase with aging.